State to keep tab on occultists ahead of Simhastha in Ujjain

Preventing occultists (tantrik in common parlance) from misusing lighting pyres at the crematorium here is going to be a task for the local administration and police during the Simhastha fair in Ujjain as many of them perform their rites during the event.

Bherav Kapalik Baba performing rites at a pyre in Ujjain on Sunday.(HT photo)

Preventing occultists (tantrik in common parlance) from misusing lighting pyres at the crematorium here is going to be a task for the local administration and police during the Simhastha fair in Ujjain as many of them perform their rites during the event.

Ujjain’s crematorium, situated on the banks of Kshipra River is venerated as the temple of Lord Mahakal, the God of life, is situated here. As a result, numerous tantriks across the country carry out their rituals on the lighting pyres at night, particularly on no moon days.

Sources said the tantriks try to achieve divine powers by controlling souls through the rituals. Although, the fair will be held after three months, tantriks and their followers have started flocking into Ujjain with reports of a tantrik named Bherav Kapalik Baba performing rites at a pyre on Sunday night.

The occulist, however, claimed that the aim of his “puja” was to avoid possible untoward incidents during the Simhastha fair as astrologers have predicted “chandal yog” during the fair’s tenure, which symbolizes major loss.

Social worker Anil Dagar, who has performed last rites of over 12,000 unclaimed bodies, told HT that tantriks, particularly the Ogarh ones, misuse the lighting pyres which hurt sentiments of family of the deceased. They even eat flesh from the bodies.

“The fair in 2004 had witnessed cremation of about 40 unclaimed bodies and the administration should ensure prevention of any such misuse,” Dagar said.

Tantrik Arvind Tiwari of Balaghat, who also come to Ujjain to perform rituals, said there was great significance of tantrik rites at the crematorium but it has nothing to do with dead bodies. “Some tantriks do perform on lighting pyre for publicity,” he expressed.

Astrologer Anandshankar Vyas said tantra kriya or tantric rites could be both for good and bad objectives and it has to be seen whether the tantrik is genuine or not.

District collector Kavindra Kiyawat said the issue has come to the knowledge of the administration and necessary steps would be taken. SP MS Verma said, “It would be an uphill task to discriminate among real and fake tantriks or their objectives. So, opinions of religious academicians are being sought.”